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Smith's Money Flow Slows As Election Day Nears

With just two weeks to go before ballots are due, it may be no surprise to learn that candidate Jefferson Smith’s fundraising has slowed to a trickle in the Portland mayor’s race.

Michael Clapp/OPB

Since the kickoff of primary season, Charlie Hales’s totals for contributions and expenditures well exceed one million dollars. Jefferson Smith isn’t far behind. He’s raised $937,000 and spent $988,000.

But Smith’s fundraising slowed considerably after revelations about an incident at a 1993 college party, where he hit a woman. He lost endorsements, and his October fundraising barely exceeded $30,000.

That compares with $139,000 raised by Hales over the same period.

Back in June, Hales made a pledge to limit individual contributions to $600. He’s mostly stuck by that But last week Hales sent a letter to Smith suggesting a waiver for certain contributions from union members, to be spent on mailers or other in-kind services.

Smith did not agree to the plan, but a campaign spokeswoman for Hales says he will move forward accepting some donations in excess of the self-imposed limit from unions.